Thomas D. Hale
Thomas D. Hale, painter, Dayton, is the son of William Hale, of Hagerstown, Md., and Mariah (Shaffer) Hale, of Nashville, Tenn. His father was a steamboat pilot, and moved his family from Nashville, Tenn., where our subject was born, to Louisville, Ky., in 1837. Our subject was born in nashville March 29, 1835, and was therefore only two years old when his father moved to Louisville. He attended the common schools of Louisville until 1848, when he commenced learning the trade of house and sign painting, which he finished in Cincinnati in 1852. In 1854, he came to Dayton to work at his trade, and in 1860 opened a shop of his own, where he has since continued. He was married March 28, 1855, to Miss Katie E. Swain, daughter of Josiah and Mary (Bateman) Swain, of Dayton. By her he has had nine children, five boys and four girls, of whom three boys and four girls survive. Mr. Hale is a quiet, social gentleman, who has, by close application to business, built up for himself a large and paying trade. He employs a number of hands, and keeps them constantly at work. Yet, few people know the extent of his business because he does not make a great "blow" about it.
From The History of Montgomery County, Ohio, W.H. Beers & Co., 1882